Tale of a Fallen Angel
by midsummernight94
Summary: When Evelyn is forced to join the new Zenith team, she tries to think of the bright side.She's allowed into a secret military base,there's cute boys... and she has a chance to get revenge on the man who turned her into a mutant freak in the first place.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm finally writing a Zoom fanfic! I loved that movie when I was a kid, and I just watched it on youtube. It was pretty corny, but it has a lot of potential, so...here I am. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!**

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><p>"Dear God, not her! I thought they had a mission! Didn't they have to slay a giant sand monster or something? Why, oh why couldn't it have crushed her?" Connie lamented as Summer Jones entered the hallway with her boyfriend. I smiled to myself; cursing Summer was an on going thing for Connie. They had despised each other ever since Summer had left our little group to join the 'Populars', as we had dubbed them. Instead of being like us-meaning high school's resident oddballs who'd actually have lives after they graduated- she was cheer captain, homecoming queen, class president, and not to mention part of the Zenith team. If that couldn't turn a person into a self-center "Popular", I don't know what would.<p>

"It's okay," I said, trying hard not to laugh. "Maybe next time." Connie nodded, looking perfectly serious. "You're right, maybe next time, if we're lucky." We were shoved aside as a group of rabid cheerleaders pushed past us to join their superhero queen. I growled under my breath and cursed the mindless drones rushed to congratulate their heroes.

I managed to make my way through the crowed without throttling anyone. I'm not sure if Connie fared as well. I assume she did, because the crowd didn't shriek in terror and scramble away from her in a desperate attempt to escape. I was the only one in the classroom when I arrived; even the teacher was gone. It seemed that no one was safe from the allure of our resident super heroes. I smiled bitterly, remembering when Zenith had held try outs for people to join their little crime fighting team. If I had actually tried out, _I_ would be greeted by the same adoring fans that now stalked Summer and Dylan.

I shuddered unwillingly. It was a terrible thought to have. As the bells rang, I whispered a quick payer up to heaven, asking God to make sure that nobody found out about the curse that I had kept hidden for all these years.

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><p><strong>Please review and tell me what you thought.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, this chapter's just an introduction to Evelyn, about her family and how she got her super power and all that happy stuff. I don't own anything, and I guess you could say that I borrowed Evelyn's power from Maximum Ride.**

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><p>I am Evelyn Durbin, mutant freak, daughter to a retired vice cop, and high school junior. Before I was even born, I had been destined to be "biologically superior" and "the next step for human kind". At least, that's what the psychopath who had help my parents conceive me through in vitro decided. He injected bird DNA into the embryo that would latter become me, and sabotaged the other embryos to make sure mine was the only one that survived.<p>

When my parents discovered my…peculiarities, they were horrified to say the least. Their doctors had tried to get my mother to get an abortion. She simply ignored their suggestions and told my father she'd love me despite the wings. She refused to even consider it, simply because she already loved my so much.

She died because of it. Not before she could beg my father to keep me safe though. And I know that he's regretted respecting her wishes ever since.

My relationship with my dad is a very complicated subject. He loved me because I'm his daughter, and he hated me because I'm the reason his wife died. He never actually said this of course, but he didn't need to. I could tell by the way he looked at me. Sometime he would just stare at me, and I could tell he was thinking of what his life would be like if my mother had survived instead of me.

My dad wasn't the only one that I have a complicated relationship with. My step-mother was the bane of my existence. She was rude, vain, arrogant…the list goes on. But unfortunately, she's also the mother of my younger brother, who I adore. And she made my father happy, so I couldn't just ask him make her leave. I somehow managed to put up with her through my years in middle school and high school, much to my own amazement.

All of this was stressful enough; I didn't need to add being part of the Zenith team and having people follow me around all day to the pile.

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><p><strong>Please review if you want me to continue the story. <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**I still don't own anything.**

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><p>It had been a week since the Zenith team returned to our humble little town, and Connie had managed to calm down a bit, much to the disappointment of our friend Eric. Eric was an odd child, to say the least. He was practically seven feet tall, with curly brown hair and large hands and feet. He was our school's BFG (big friendly giant) and he took great pleasure in Connie's "temper tantrums", as he had dubbed them.<p>

Currently the three of us were having lunch at our favorite spot. It was a shady place outside of the school library, and not nearly as crowded as the rest of the school. We were laughing happily when two shadows fell over us.

I looked up, expecting to see a pair of teachers or maybe a couple of kids from band. Instead I was greeted by Summer and Dylan. A cold shiver ran down my spine as the two heroes looked down at me. Connie growled and said, "What the hell are you two doing here? Don't you have to go polish your medals that the mayor gave you or some thing?" Eric elbowed her and looked at them apologetically. That's one of the big differences between Eric and Connie; Eric can't be rude to anyone, no matter how much he hates them.

"She doesn't mean it like that. What she's trying to say is-"

"It's okay Eric, I know what she's trying to say," Summer interrupted in a kind voice. "So… what's up with you three?" We stared at them with stunned expressions. Could they really be stupid enough not to see how much we wanted them to leave? Jesus, wasn't Summer and empath? I thought she was supposed to notice thing like that.

"Anything you need to talk about?" Her eyes locked onto mine and I could tell the question was only addressed to me. "Any big life changing moments? Any new found abilities?" My mouth went dry and I had to force the answer out.

"N-no. Not that it's any of your business if I did." The subtle growl in my voice help reinforce my answer.

Dylan glared at us if _we_ were the ones interrupting _their_ lunch and tried to drag her away. "Let's go Summer, this was a bad idea."

"Yes, please go," Connie said in a chipper voice. "Your presence makes me want to hurl." This caused Eric to elbow her again. They didn't seem to notice Connie or Eric though. Dylan was to busy trying to get Summer's attention and Summer was to busy watching me.

What were they doing here? What did she mean, 'new found abilities'? My mind went into hyper drive, trying to process what was happening. Could they possibly know about my wings? Why else would they be here? Summer at least suspected something, if I were to judge by the way she was watching me.

"I've got to go," I said suddenly, leaping to my feet. I grabbed my backpack and fled to the nearest bathroom. There was nobody else in there when I arrived, which I found oddly convenient. I paced back and forth, looking in the mirror occasionally, as if my reflection could help me think more clearly.

Alright. So the Zenith team might have found out I could fly. No big deal right? I didn't even know for sure that they knew. How could they know? I had been so careful; I rarely flew at all. They only time I flew was when my family went on hiking trips to most remote places possible, which only happened about once a year. And these trips were nowhere near where any government official could spot my peculiarities, even if they were the precious Zenith team.

No, it wasn't even possible. There was no way they could possibly know about me. I was just being paranoid. Obviously I had only imagined Summer watching me suspiciously.

I had relaxed a bit when a voice interrupted my train of thought. "Are you okay?" I looked up to see Summer Jones watching me with a worried expression on her face. "You kind of left in a hurry, and I just wanted to make sure you weren't sick."

I forced a smile. "I'll be fine, I must be coming down with the flu or something. " She seemed to buy this and she nodded before turning away. I waited a moment or two before following her out and returning to my friends.

When I found them, Connie and Eric were snapping at each other; something about Connie being a bitch and Eric not being intimidating enough. They stopped and stared at me as I walked up to them. Eric was the first to speak.

"Are you okay? We've been looking every where for you!" I rolled my eyes. "Not well enough apparently. Summer found me first." Connie winced at my misfortune.

"I'm glad it was you instead of me. But if you hadn't run off she wouldn't have followed you in the first place," Connie scolded. "What the hell was that about anyway?" My two friends looked at me expectantly, as if I were about to reveal the most amazing secret either of them would hear in their entire lives.

If I had chosen to tell them about my wings, and the few other endowments that accompanied them, it would have been. For one moment, I really did want to tell them, if only so somebody would know about me besides my father. But I knew them to well. Connie would think I was lying, and if Eric knew it would be on Facebook within an hour; he couldn't keep a secret to save his life.

"It's not important," I mumbled as the bell rang. "I'll see you guys after school." I turned and rushed to my next class before they could try to force more out of me. "Eric, do you she's hiding something?" I heard Connie say behind me.

She had no idea.

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><p><strong>Please Review, it'd help me out a lot with my writing. The next chapter will be very critical to the rest of the story. ;) <strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, sorry i haven't written in so long. I've had a terrible case of writer's block when it came to this story, and I couldn't seem to start on the next chapter. Then i realized the reason I was having trouble on the fifth chapter was because the fourth when didn't make sense. So I redid most of it, and I am almost a quarter of the way done with the next chapter, so you won't have to wait very long, maybe a month at the most. Any way... I don't own Zoom, nor am I making a profit from this.**

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><p>I didn't even wait for my friends after school, as was tradition. I wasn't sure they'd bring up what happened today, but I decided not to risk it. There'd just be too much to explain.<p>

Rain poured down and plastered my hair to my face as I ran towards my car. I ripped the door open and dived inside, turning on the ignition simultaneously. Heat flooded the car and I sighed, happy to be out of the frozen downpour outside.

I had started to pull out of the parking lot when I noticed Dylan and Summer standing a few yards away from me. They were huddled under an umbrella, and Summer was looking straight at me. Dylan followed her gaze and frowned. He tugged at her arm impatiently, which thankfully drew her gaze away from me. He opened his car door for her and she stepped inside after casting one more suspicious glance at me.

A car horn blared from somewhere behind me, and I looked in my rear-view mirror to see a rather large truck only a few feet behind me. I blushed widely at the realization that I had pulled out in front of it. I mouthed "sorry" to the other driver -who was glaring at me lividly- before racing off.

When I finally arrived at my house I had driven myself crazy. What _was_ it exactly that Summer wanted with me? Why should she care if I had a secret? _Ev_eryone had secretes- why was she trying so hard to uncover mine? I stopped in font of my house and slammed the car door shut after I got out. Why couldn't Summer just leave me alone?

"Ev'lyn!" A pair of arms wrapped themselves around my legs and I almost fell flat on my face. I struggled to keep my balance and looked down into the face of my attacker. "Oh. Hello Kevin."

Kevin flashed me one of his adorable smiles and released my legs. "Hi sissy!" He had bright blue eyes, which had come from Alaina. His hair, which was a dark brown, came from my father. He looked like a perfect, innocent angel, which was proof God had a sense of humor. It was hard to believe something so adorable could come from my stepmother.

"How was school?" he asked cheerfully as we walked back to the house.

"It was okay, nothing really exciting happened though." There was no point in making him worry about my problems, not that he would have understood them. "How was your day?" His eyes sparkled happily as he told me about school.

His teacher, Mrs. Sloan, who he had been completely in love with since the first day of Kindergarten, was pretty and the nicest woman in the world. He had peanut butter& jelly for lunch, and Mrs. Sloan was _very_ pretty. They worked on reading and were told a story after snack, and Mrs. Sloan was the prettiest woman ever in the whole-wide world and he was going to marry her.

"Can I have a cookie?" he asked me as soon as we walked through the door. I sighed and shook my head.

"Sorry Kevin, you aren't supposed to have sugar, remember? It gives you nightmares." My brother pouted.

"But I'm not goin' to bed yet." That was true; he'd probably have all of the sugar burned out his system by the time he went to bed. There surely wouldn't be any harm in giving him one cookie…

"Fine." I grabbed a package Oreos from the top shelf of the pantry and handed him one. "Here you go." He squealed happily and ran off with his cookie to watch T.V. I sighed to myself; I'd defiantly get hell later for giving him any sugar. I heard a whimper from behind me and winced. Oh no…

I turned around and looked Lucky straight in the eye. "No." She whimpered again, her eyes flickering between me and a bag of Pupperonie. "No. Lucky, you don't deserve a treat." Lucky was a beagle/retriever/mutt with molted fur and large brown eyes. She also had a strange fetish for attacking my shoes, which was why she didn't deserve a treat. She looked at me pleadingly and I felt my reserve start to melt. Damn my soft heart. I tossed her a treat and she ran off, barking her thanks.

Neither of them bothered me after that. I was able to work on my Algebra II in peace. I was able to put of the moment that I was dreading for almost two hours. That was when Nathan got home.

"Daddy!" Shouting the name of whatever family member he was talking to was the standard greeting of Kevin.

"Hey sport." My dad laughed and ruffled his hair. Then seeing the question forming on Kevin's lips, he said, "Mommy will be coming home late tonight, she has to work late." Of course she was. Alaina's job that kept her away from home a lot. At least, that was her excuse.

I studied my dad carefully as he walked into the kitchen. It was amazing how much alike we look. He and I had the same grey eyes, and my face is only a more petite version of his. The only major difference is our hair color; his hair was a deep black color, and I had inherited my mother's caramel hair color.

Dad seemed to feel my eyes on him and looked up with a worried on his face. "Hello Evelyn," his voice came out slightly awkward. That wasn't unusual, he rarely knew what to say to me. It wasn't always this difficult between us. I contemplated telling him about Summer and Dylan, but decided against it. What would be the point of telling him that all of our caution had been for nothing when I had no proof that the Zenith team knew anything about me? It would only cause him unneeded stress.

"Hi Dad. Do you want any help fixing supper?"

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><p>"She's hiding something, I know she is; I just don't know what!" Summer growled for what had to be the seventh time. Conner groaned to himself. These bi-weekly meetings really were a pain in the ass.<p>

"Summer, calm down. You're taking this way to seriously," Jack said in soothing voice. "Please, start from the beginning. I only got about half of what you just said."

Summer took a deep breath before saying, "There's this girl named Evelyn at my school, and she's hiding something. There isn't much more that I can tell you besides that. She keeps to herself mostly and has only two close friends, and she doesn't even talk to them much." Summer paused before changing her mind. "Well, she doesn't talk about herself at least. Any way, it's like I said, I can't tell _what _she's hiding, I just know that it's important." Jack nodded as if he could see the point of Summer's fretting. Conner, for one, did not.

"What exactly do you propose we do, exactly," Conner asked with an exasperated voice. Every one else at the table looked at Conner with surprised expressions-he didn't often speak up during the meetings.

"Summer thinks that we should stage an intervention for Evelyn and convince her to tell us if she's like us," Dylan answered before Summer could even open her mouth. The disgusted look on his face showed what he thought of her plan.

"Summer…" Jack said in hesitantly. He shook his head and continued, "We can't just force a girl to reveal whether or not she's a mutant-especially when we don't have any proof."

"The general agrees with me," Summer said in a soft voice. "I talked to him before the meeting, and he thinks that Evelyn is worth checking out." Jack looked at her with a shocked expression. He blinked a few times as he tried to think of a response.

"I see," his voice came out oddly strangled. "I suppose we will have to talk to this…Evelyn girl. But only," he added, spotting Summer's over-joyed expression, "after we've gathered enough information to even _suspect_ that she belongs here. What did you say her full name was?"

Connor looked at his now older brother in horror. "You're actually _doing_ this?"

Jack didn't answer right away. "It wouldn't hurt to check it out," he finally said in a soft voice that clearly meant that Conner shouldn't try to argue with him. Jack looked back at Summer expectantly. She looked confused for a moment before remembering what Jack had asked her.

"Durbin, her last name's Durbin." For some reason the name struck a chord with Connor, and he took a moment to remember where he had heard it before. When he didn't reach any likely possibilities, Conner gave up, telling himself that Durbin was a common name and that he had probably come across it thousands of times. Jack finished writing the name down and said, "I'll get this to Doctor Grant and tell him to see if he can find her birth records. There might be a clue some where in those." He dismissed the rest of the team with a rather downcast look and walked out behind them. He sighed to himself as he closed the Board Room door, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

_Well, this chapter obviously wasn't up as soon as I said it would be. But thanks to any consistent readers who have waited patiently for this update. I have offered an explaination in this chapter for some of Summer's OOCness. None of the reviews I've recieved have pointed any out, but I felt that the Summer I was portraying differed from the one in the movie. I have also introduced the main antagonist of this fic in this chapter._

_'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' belongs to Oscar Wilde_

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><p>I resolved to avoid any sign of Summer or Dylan today at school. There wasn't anything else I could do really. I could not tell any official about what I <em>thought<em> was happening, not without revealing what I was, and that was a risk I wasn't willing to take.

Fortunately there was no sign of either of them when I arrived at school that morning. I breathed a bit easier at the thought of not having to deal with them today. Eric met me in front of the main building on campus, as he always did. I smiled at him, but my smile was soon wiped of my face when I saw the way Eric was looking at me. He seemed wary, not at all like his usual self.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking at him in concern.

"I'm fine. It's _you _I'm worried about." He said in a hushed voice as we walked toward our class.

"_Me_? Why on Earth are you worried _me_?" I feigned confusion, thinking for the first time that I should have been more careful around my friends then I had been. Eric was more observant then Connie, it wasn't unlikely that he would noticed if I let anything about my secret slip.

"You really worried us when you stormed off yesterday." He said simply. I released the breath I didn't even know I was holding. I felt a bit guilty for not trusting him; had I really grown so paranoid that I didn't trust my own best friend?

"Oh that- I'm fine. I was just feeling ill." It wasn't a lie, not entirely at least. The thought of being discovered always made my stomach churn.

"It's not just yesterday." Eric admitted, holding the classroom door open for me. "You been acting strange for a while now. What happened with Summer was hardly the most unusual thing you've done." I was a bit insulted by this- it's not as if I didn't _try_ to act normal. I almost pointed out that Eric had a few little quirks of his own, but was interrupted by the morning bell.

"What was that about anyway? And don't you dare say that Summer makes you feel sick- that's a response I'd expect from Connie, not from you."

"It's really not that important, now please, _let it go_," I hissed as the rest of our class slowly filed in. Eric frowned but kept his mouth shut, turning to the front to watch our teacher scribble notes down on the SMART board.

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><p>"You aren't actually going to do this?" Dylan asked Summer as they drove to school in his run down truck. He was worried about her. They all were, but Dylan was admittedly more worried than the others. Summer couldn't blame them; she was worried about herself too.<p>

"I am," she said calmly. "Unless you have a good reason as to why I shouldn't?" Summer winced as waves of frustration rolled off him; she hated it when he got upset.

"A good reason? Oh okay," he said, pretending to think about it. "I think I've found one. Is "_you sound insane and are acting like some sort of stalker_" a good enough reason?" Summer tried not to wince at the sound of the word _insane_.

"Nope," she tried to make her tone teasing, as if this were all a joke. "You're just going to have to trust me," she added hastily, seeing Dylan's knuckles go white as he clenched his fists around the steering wheel. "I _know _what I'm doing." Dylan didn't respond. Summer sighed in frustration. If only she could _explain _why it was so important that they get Evelyn onto their team as quickly a possible… but she couldn't. _He_ wouldn't let her.

For weeks now she had been receiving impulses from a very disturbed individual. His (the individual was obviously a male) presence had been subtle at first, but as the weeks wore on it grew considerably stronger, and creepier. He was obsessed with a teenage girl- a scary enough thought on it's own, but far worse when coupled with the fact that Summer knew the girl he was obsessed with. She had tried to tell them that Evelyn was in danger, but discovered that part of her didn't want to warn them. Of course she knew that she _should_, and that it was very important that she did so, but part of her simply refused to.

It didn't take long to realize that the man she was receiving impulses from was purposefully influencing her emotions. That was the scariest thing about this whole situation. If she couldn't stop the man from using her own powers against her how could she expect to protect other people?

'_But I found a way around his manipulation_," she said to herself, slightly smug. The man's biggest concern was that Evelyn be accepted into the Zenith team (the reason why he wanted this was hidden from her). Summer was certain that his influence over her would cease once the task was completed. Then she could tell the rest of the team about the danger Evelyn was in. If they thought that she was going insane in the process, then so be it.

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><p>"'Yet each man kills the thing he lovesby each let this be heard/ Some do it with a bitter look/ Some with a flattering word/ The coward does it with a kiss/ the brave man with the sword!'" Hyde set the volumes of poems down on the small mahogany table that was stationed next to his chair. A brilliant man, that Oscar Wilde. Hyde found himself always agreeing with every word that had flowed from that magnificent man's pen. After all, who knew better then he that doing what was best for those you loved would temporarily pain them?

Take Evelyn for example. His creation deserved to show off her abilities, to learn to use them with the deadly force that he intended. Of course her father's insistence that she was a monster-words the man had never spoken, but Hyde was sure that it was what he felt- had penetrated deeply into her psyche, and people contending that she was other wise would be an unfamiliar-perhaps even painful- concept to her. The Zenith team would hopefully be able to temper her attitude into one he could work with.

If only that Summer girl could work faster. If only his control over her powers were more complete. But Hyde couldn't rush her, that was what allowed her to discover his influence in the first place. No, he would be patient-for now at least. The less he was personally involved with this the better.

"Dr. Hyde." The voice entering from the entry way had a brisk, no nonsense quality to it. He looked up to see his secretary- Janet? Marleen? Didn't matter.- standing in the door way.

"What is it?"

"The embryos are ready sir."

"I see," Hyde sighed and hefted himself out of his arm chair. "I'll be right there. thank you for letting me know." The secretary gave him a brief nod as a welcome and stalked out tof the room, her skirt swishing around her knees as she went. Hyde cast a finale look of longing at the Oscar Wilde collection before following- his breaks never did last long enough.

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><p><em>Constructive Criticism is appreciated, especially where characyers are concerned. Please review, and hopefully the next update won't take as long. <em>


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